I definitely do no find poetry my strong point so this is a fly by the seat of your pants surface level analysis.
The poems I am going to use are “The Switzer’s Wife”, “The Indian City” and “Joan of Arc, Rheims” – all from Felicia Hemans. They are all part of her “Records to Woman” collection. I cannot say if they all fall into the pantheon of political poetry, but I believe each has a political side to it and when put together, I believe they paint an interesting picture of woman in a political structure.
First, in “The Switzer’s Wife”, we have a wife, presented as quiet, sad and mild in the first half of the poem, who in the second half moves her husband to action, to political action if you will and the impeding political action, that appears to be coming after the poem.
“And she, that ever thro’ her home mov’d With the meek thoughtfulness and quiet smile Of woman, calmly loving and belov’d, And timid in her happiness he while, Stood brightly forth, and stedfastly, that hour, Her clear glance kindling into sudden power.
Ay, pale she stood, but with an eye of light, And took her fair child to her holy breast, And lifted her soft voice, that gather’d might As it found language: -- “And we thus oppress’d? Then must we rise upon our mountain-sod, And man must arm, and woman call on God!”
She has the power here to question “their” oppression. She is here, the genesis of power, which her husband carries into the last few stanzas, as he says, “My bride, my wife, the mother of my child! Now shall they name be armour to my heart;”. Is this a political poem? Anything having to do with power is political. Her call to action is political in nature and her husband definitely seems ready for political action. In the end then, she is a woman in “quietness of thought And yet around her is a light Of inward majesty and might”.
In “The Indian City”, which we covered in class, the mother in the poem grieves over the death of her son, which occurs only after his hand is cut off. Her remorse turns into anger and thus she has the power to incite a religious revolt.
“Bore in the avenger with foaming speed; Free swept the flame thro’ the idol-fanes, And the streams glow’d red, as from warrior-veins, And the sword of the Moslem, let loose to slay, Like the panther leapt on its flying prey, Till a city of ruin begirt the shade, Where the boy and his mother at rest were laid.”
She transforms the power created within her, to start a religious uprising that will leave “The Rajah’s throne” a “serpent’s lair”. What is interesting, if you put the two poems together, that of wife and that of mother, we have both woman calling upon God. In the first, “woman call on God!” and in the second, the woman initiates “War! ‘tis the gathering of Moslem war!”. Thus, not only do we see the genesis of power within woman, to “incite” in individual man or to “incite” an entire religion – we also see woman usurping from man the power to speak to God directly, which is another form of political power.
A perfect closure in this triumvirate is “Joan of Arc, in Rheims”. The first half of the poem is a tribute to Joan, who is “glorified with inspiration’s trace. . .the shepherd’s child” and “Holy amidst the knighthood o the land:”. Yet, in the second half, we see what becomes of those with political power, what Hemans would have do with this third woman, a political “mantled with victorious” power – who returns to grace.
“Where o’er her father’s roof the beech-leaves hung, Was in her heart; a music heard and felt, Winning her back to nature. –She unbound The helm of many battles from her head, And, with her bright locks bow’d to sweep the ground, ‘Bless me, my father, bless me! And with thee, To he still cabin and the beechen-tree, Let me return!”
She unburdens herself of this political power, she turns away from it, back to nature, back to "the father" and thus, we have a completion of three different types of power, all coming from woman and worked on through the mediums of husband, religion and country.
What is a political poem? I cannot answer that. However, what I can say, is that through these three poems, we capture three different phases of a woman, as it relates to power and "the political”.
The poems I am going to use are “The Switzer’s Wife”, “The Indian City” and “Joan of Arc, Rheims” – all from Felicia Hemans. They are all part of her “Records to Woman” collection. I cannot say if they all fall into the pantheon of political poetry, but I believe each has a political side to it and when put together, I believe they paint an interesting picture of woman in a political structure.
First, in “The Switzer’s Wife”, we have a wife, presented as quiet, sad and mild in the first half of the poem, who in the second half moves her husband to action, to political action if you will and the impeding political
action, that appears to be coming after the poem.
“And she, that ever thro’ her home mov’d
With the meek thoughtfulness and quiet smile
Of woman, calmly loving and belov’d,
And timid in her happiness he while,
Stood brightly forth, and stedfastly, that hour,
Her clear glance kindling into sudden power.
Ay, pale she stood, but with an eye of light,
And took her fair child to her holy breast,
And lifted her soft voice, that gather’d might
As it found language: -- “And we thus oppress’d?
Then must we rise upon our mountain-sod,
And man must arm, and woman call on God!”
She has the power here to question “their” oppression. She is here, the genesis of power, which her husband carries into the last few stanzas, as he says, “My bride, my wife, the mother of my child! Now shall they name be armour to my heart;”. Is this a political poem? Anything having to do with power is political. Her call to action is political in nature and her husband definitely seems ready for political action. In the end then, she is a woman in “quietness of thought And yet around her is a light Of inward majesty and might”.
In “The Indian City”, which we covered in class, the mother in the poem grieves over the death of her son, which occurs only after his hand is cut off. Her remorse turns into anger and thus she has the power to incite a religious revolt.
“Bore in the avenger with foaming speed;
Free swept the flame thro’ the idol-fanes,
And the streams glow’d red, as from warrior-veins,
And the sword of the Moslem, let loose to slay,
Like the panther leapt on its flying prey,
Till a city of ruin begirt the shade,
Where the boy and his mother at rest were laid.”
She transforms the power created within her, to start a religious uprising that will leave “The Rajah’s throne” a “serpent’s lair”. What is interesting, if you put the two poems together, that of wife and that of mother, we have both woman calling upon God. In the first, “woman call on God!” and in the second, the woman initiates “War! ‘tis the gathering of Moslem war!”. Thus, not only do we see the genesis of power within woman, to “incite” in individual man or to “incite” an entire religion – we also see woman usurping from man the power to speak to God directly, which is another form of political power.
A perfect closure in this triumvirate is “Joan of Arc, in Rheims”. The first half of the poem is a tribute to Joan, who is “glorified with inspiration’s trace. . .the shepherd’s child” and “Holy amidst the knighthood o the land:”. Yet, in the second half, we see what becomes of those with political power, what Hemans would have do with this third woman, a political “mantled with victorious” power – who returns to grace.
“Where o’er her father’s roof the beech-leaves hung,
Was in her heart; a music heard and felt,
Winning her back to nature. –She unbound
The helm of many battles from her head,
And, with her bright locks bow’d to sweep the ground,
‘Bless me, my father, bless me! And with thee,
To he still cabin and the beechen-tree,
Let me return!”
She unburdens herself of this political power, she turns away from it, back to nature, back to "the father" and thus, we have a completion of three different types of power, all coming from woman and worked on through the mediums of husband, religion and country.
What is a political poem? I cannot answer that. However, what I can say, is that through these three poems, we capture three different phases of a woman, as it relates to power and "the political”.